...Antigone or Creon? It is still being questioned who the actual tragic hero in the Sophocles Antigone play is. A tragic hero is defined as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. A tragic hero must possess a few essential traits. Such as, a personality trait that leads to his/her downfall or an error in judgement. The character is accountable for his/her own fate. The character will fall when they realize they had made an irreversible mistake. Lastly, the character should be neither good nor bad, it’s important for the audience to be able to identify with the character. For this is why I believe Creon is the true tragic hero in the Sophocles play Antigone. A tragic hero...
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...the play Antigone, Antigone is a woman who did anything to honor her deceased brother. Even though she knew the severe consequence she would face for refusing Creon's proclamation toward the burial of her brother.The theme of this is that both characters have different views with their situation causing controversy between the two.In the play Antigone,Creon is shown to be a tragic hero through his interactions with Antigone. This develops the theme of the play .By these tragic flaws such as Rude ,Serious, and Unfair. One of Creon's trait that develops the theme of the play is that Creon is ignorant. For example in the play Antigone, Creon said to in line (654)”I...
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...their own rules or think that rules don’t apply to them. A great example of determining right vs. wrong would be in the play, “Antigone,”...
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...ANTIGONE Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 441 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first. The play expands on the Theban legend that predated it and picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes ends. This play is based on the life story of Antigone, the daughter of Oeudipe and Jocaste. It is a legend of her sacrifice for her loved ones, her believes and her honour. Antigone’s brother Polynice had betrayed his country and died during the war. Creon, the king of Thebes had refused to give him a burial. Antigone is outraged by this decision and goes as far as sacrificing her life, to give her brother a burial he deserves. Even law of the king does not stop her from doing what she thinks is right. Antigone is the tragic heroine of the play and this play revolves around her struggle against the autocratic laws of the state. Even she manages to give Polynice a rightful burial but, this burial costs Antigone her life. SYNOPSIS In the beginning of the play, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war died fighting each other for the throne. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has decided that Eteocles will be honored and Polyneices will be in public shame. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lie unburied on the battlefield, prey for carrion animals like worms and vultures, the harshest punishment at the time. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead Polyneices...
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...Who is the tragic hero of Antigone? Aristotle defines a tragic hero as one with a fatal flaw that leads to a reversal of fortune, or peripeteia. This fatal flaw is often Hubris, which is excessive pride. Creon fits all these roles, therefore he should be labelled as the tragic hero of Antigone. Creon also faces anagnorisis, in which the tragic hero realizes the situation they're in and is often followed by regret. Not only that, but Creon's fatal flaw, excessive pride, impacts the story more than Antigone did. As previously stated, Creon's flaw is his excessive pride and arrogance. In the story of Antigone, Creon gives Antigone's brother, Eteocles, a proper burial, but refuses to bury Polynices for betraying their city and leaves him out to rot. Antigone was appalled by this and for the sake of family and love went against Creon's wishes and buried Polynices. Antigone is eventually caught doing so and is sent to Creon. Creon, being arrogant as always, insists on Antigone being killed for her actions....
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...In the Greek play, Antigone Creon, the uncle of Antigone is the more tragic character because everything he does produces his outcome to be worse. Nothing he does in the whole play benefits the gods or the people. Even though Creon is devoted to obey the rules, Antigone is the most committed to a moral standard because she buries her brother and does not deny the accusation of the crime. In the Greek culture, spreading dirt on a deceased’s body would allow their soul to travel to the underworld. She believed that everyone’s soul should be allowed to ascend to the underworld and would break Creon’s rules to do so. Creon acts independently of other characters the most because he does not listen to anyone’s wisdom to curve his final decision away from killing Antigone for burying her brother. Many people warn him, including his own son and only until the end of the play, he realizes they were right. Creon has more choice in the decisions he makes because there are a handful of things he could done to show the people of Thebes to not go against his ruling. For example, he could have just put her in jail for a certain time period, so...
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...Makai Montague Ms. Novak English 10CP Per. 2 15 January 2016 Antigone “It is no weakness for the wisest man to learn when he is wrong, know when to yield” (Sc. 3.608-609). King Creon certainly did not yield to anyone’s opinion except his own. In the Greek play Antigone, Sophocles uses King Creon as an example of a leader who is prideful and sexist, resulting in failure and tragedy. King Creon allows his pride and stubbornness to stand in the way of listening to others. When he learns that Antigone buried the body of Polyneices, he is angered that someone dared disobey his decree. He disregards Antigone when she tells him that some believes her action of burying Polyneices is honorable. Similarly, he obstinately disregarded his son Haemon when he suggested the same: “But I hear whispers spoken in the dark; on every side I hear voices of pity for this poor girl, doomed to the cruelest death, and most unjust, that ever women suffered for an honorable action-burying a brother who was killed in battle” (Sc. 3.590-596). King Creon’s prideful response was that as a king, he was only responsible for himself: “Indeed! Am I to take lessons at my time of life from a fellow of his age?”(Sc. 3.624-625). A good statesman takes into consideration what the people around them have to say, not push advice away because they feel too proud to take it from someone younger. Furthermore, King Creon later gets a visit from Teiresias, a blind prophet who foretells the future. The prophecy says that...
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...In Sophocles’ play Antigone; Creon and Antigone have different thoughts towards the burial of Polyneices. Throughout the play you notice that Creon leans towards the “law of man” while Antigone leans towards the “law of the gods.” Creon is the new head of state and lawmaker in Thebes; he believes that everyone should obey to man-made laws, “law of man.” Creon’s laws simply are standard (have no emotion), they protect the culture, and provide stability to the culture. Antigone obeys a different set of laws called "law of the gods." Law of the gods has standards for right and wrong. They are also more universal, not just people of Thebes apply to them; all people of the gods do. Antigone believes that the law of the gods tells people to give...
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...poor judgement and arrogant responses. Therefore, in “Antigone”, Creon is a prominent example of what a tragic is. He is full of pride, has a stubborn sense of character, and a large amount of power. One reason Crean is seen as a tragic hero is because of all his pride. For example. Creon said,” No woman shall be master while I live.”. However, his proud is what caused him to criminalize Polyneices, even though Creon’s lust for power is the same reason that caused Polyneices and Eteocles to fight. Creon is too prideful to allow a woman to persuade him, or even realize the hypocrisy of certain situations he’s involved in. Throughout the entire story, Creon showed an...
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...Sophocles’ Antigone A tragic hero is defined by Aristotle’s Poetics as the protagonist in the story to whom something happens that elicits pity from the audience. For the most part, a tragic hero is a “virtuous” person whose life changes from being prosperous to being a life full of misfortune (Aristotle, Poetics). In other words, the tragic hero is someone of great social standing who begins the story at a very high point, but suffers their downfall because of a tragic flaw. In Sophocles’ Antigone the central theme of this play is the struggle between Antigone and her uncle Creon. The issue of burying Antigone’s brother Polynices is based on the ancient Greek philosophy of death, where any unburied body condemns its soul to torment. Basically, it was the duty of the family to bury their dead. Yet, this issue extended beyond family loyalty to a decree of piety by the gods. However, in the play, Creon goes against this celestial decree because he sees Polynices as a traitor for warring against him as a member of another army. As a means to set an example about the repercussions of disloyalty, Creon issues an edict to leave him unburied. As a man who starts the drama in as the respected king of Thebes, he gradually loses his family, his objectivity, and his power to his stubbornness and hubris that ultimately results in his downfall. Hence, Creon is a tragic hero in the Sophocles’ Antigone because his unbending pride results in tragic downfall as king of Thebes. One way Creon is...
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...the novels by Antigone, Creon, and Socrates. In the novel “Antigone” and “The Apology of Socrates” Socrates and Antigone believe if the law is immoral or unrighteous they must protect themselves against discrimination. In the story by “Antigone” she refuses to obey a law because she believed this law was immoral. The law she refuses to obey was the law of tyranny. Antigone second brother was not to have a burial when he died because of his dishonor to the state. Antigone brothers Eteocles and Polynices wanted to take the throne. They both would take the throne one year after the next but Eteocles, the elder, refused to step down. Polynices and his army marched down to the state of Thebes to battle his own brother for the throne, the brothers killed each other in a duel which made Creon king. When Creon became king he ordered Eteocles buried in honor and left Polynices to rot. Creon believed that Polynices should not have disobeyed the law of his own state, which was disloyalty. When Antigone heard about the news of her brother Polynices she was enraged. According to the novel “Antigone” when she was speaking to her sister, Antigone says “For those two brothers of ours, in burial has not Creon honored the one, dishonored the other?” (Ant 161.23-24). Antigone questions herself because she is surprised that a person cannot have a burial. Also Antigone believed that Creon abused his authority by not giving her brother the proper burial a human being deserves. Creon believes if...
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...drastic measures to get it. In Antigone, power both corrupts and blinds some of the characters. The clearest example of power is by far King Creon of Thebes, who is arrogant, insensitive, and just plain cruel to the individuals around him. Another example of power, which is more of a struggle for power, is Antigone, the main character in the play. She is a young girl who rises up alone against the state power. In Sophocles great tragedy, Antigone, power is an eminent theme that fatally affects the lives of both Antigone and Creon, each with their own struggle to defy power. During the course of the play, Creon becomes so engulfed in his own power that he begins to rule with an iron fist. The central concern of the play is Antigone’s fateful struggle against Creon’s cruel edict. Creon holds absolute power in themes, which he abuses throughout the play. Creon made a decree that prohibited anyone from burying Polyneices’ body, and he was proud of it. When the decree was broken by Antigone, Creon felt a threat to his power, and therefore sentenced her to death. Creon’s son, Haimon, tried to persuade his father to take away Antigone’s death sentence, but Creon refused without saying why. Haimon replied to him with "It is not reason never to yield to reason" (sc.II.218). Teiresias warned Creon too that the gods were angry and his actions were to be blamed, but Creon rejected this as well, which in turn made him suffer due to pride of his own power. Creon abused his power by thinking...
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...in Antigone between the two main characters, Creon and Antigone, is an issue that is directly dependant on the gods. In this case, it is Antigone who is right and Creon who is wrong in their decisions. Antigone's reasons were just and accepting of the gods' control when she accepted her fate, while Creon indirectly assumes control for himself by disregarding and disrespecting the gods which results in his unprepared outcome. It is important to understand the reasoning behind the characters' decision-making and how these decisions relate to the gods in order to understand the purpose of the story's outcome and it's sound chain of events. It is known that following the gods with respect is a sign of good fate and righteousness. Antigone is respectful of the gods throughout the story and even complies with her fate as she makes her final decision of whether to go through with her burial plans for Polynices. However, Creon is disrespectful many times towards the gods, in particular when he insults Zeus, when talking about Polynices' dead corpse, by saying " But you will never cover up that corpse, not if the very eagles tear their food from him, and leave it at the throne of Zeus." (Antigone, lines 1039-1041). Creon is wrong in disgracing Zeus' throne and presuming his own commands stand stronger than Zeus'. It is clear in the text that Creon has forgotten that the power that has been bestowed on him as a king would never amount the power of the gods in his own fate. Creon has...
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...“Antigone” is a play about struggle and passion. To fully understand the play, the previous plays needs to be understood. Antigone and her sister, Ismene, are the daughters of Oedipus, from the play “Oedipus Rex”. Eteocles takes control of Thebes and his brother Polynices raises an army to attack the city; both are killed in the battle. This is where the story of Antigone comes into play. Creon, Oedipus’s brother in law and uncle (Oedipus married his mother) is now King of Thebes. He issues a decree for Eteocles to be buried but for Polynices to be left where he was killed and not to be buried. He honors Eteocles for defending the city, but leaves Polynices body lying out for the people to see and the dogs to eat. However, as part of Polynices family, it is Antigone’s duty and obligation to bury her brothers, and she does so against the orders of the King. Under Creon’s decree, this places the death penalty upon the stubborn young girl. Creon becomes increasingly stubborn as well, eventually showing hubris, which means immense disrespect and excessive pride, this being his hamartia. He imprisons her alive in a tomb, not knowing that his son, Haemon, who is in love with her, follows them to the...
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...There are many values and characteristics in a tragic hero. For example, most display haughtiness and are destined to fall. In the example of “Antigone”, Creon, the powerful and ignorant leader of Thebes, exhibits many of the tragic hero’s attributes. Throughout the story, Creon shows his overwhelming pride in many different situations, often referred to as hubris. He is one that believes only he is right and is very close-minded. To illustrate, he says “He shall not save these girls from death,” as a response to his son, Haemon, that his decision is final and nothing Haemon says will change that. Creon takes pride in his decisions that he will be giving death to Antigone and sees no reason to listen to anyone else’s views, which will always be the case. Also, Creon feels superior to...
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